May 28, 2026
Ancient Climate Study Reframes Origins of Millet Farming
A new high-resolution climate study from China's Loess Plateau suggests that soil temperature, not just air temperature or rainfall, played a decisive role in shaping the spread of millet farming during the Neolithic period. Published earlier this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study offers new insight into a longstanding question surrounding early Chinese civilization: why millet agriculture, which emerged about 8,000 years ago, remained limited for nearly two millennia before expanding rapidly around 6,000 years ago.
Climate